BRIDGEWATER, NJ - Bridgewater-Raritan High School held its annual Dodge It! Tournament March 8, and raised more than $1,700 for the PTO to be used toward student scholarships, teacher grants and student events.
The National Anthem was performed by Jayleen Alvarado and Josh Sagare.
In the tournament, 24 student teams entered, with the winner being "Balls of Steels." On the team were Matthew Di Eduardo, Lucas Travisano, Philip Alifano, Jace Bruns, Hack Lanum, Matt Cichocki, Louis Aponte, Jaime deVera and Jayden Rosado.
The winner of the most creative dodgeball team was "Reusable Ballz," and the winner of the costume contest was "Hungry Hippos.
]]>BRIDGEWATER, NJ - The spring-like weather outside Bridgewater-Raritan High School had no impact on Matt McCarthy when he proudly spoke about the opening performance of the Festival of the Arts.
The crown- jewel event of the fine and performing arts program in the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District launched its 2024 edition when the chorus concert was held on the evening of Mar. 13, in the high school’s main gymnasium.
The audience, which featured family and friends, jammed into Vaughn Stapleton Gymnasium to enjoy the gifted singing of school district students from grades four through 12.
McCarthy, the school district’s supervisor of arts education and the director of the Festival of the Arts, relished his review of the first of the four performances in the Festival of the Arts.
“There was so much warmth throughout the concert as our students lifted their voices to the rafters,’’ McCarthy said.
He not only was entertained by the songs, but by the passion and attentiveness that was also delivered throughout the evening,
“The best part for me was seeing the look on the faces of our younger students as their older counterparts performed," he said. "It's without a doubt that events like this encourage and inspire students to continue making the arts a part of their lives."
Once the Star-Spangled Banner was superbly sung by the combined high school choirs, the students delighted the crowded arena, first from the youngest and all the way through to the oldest choralists.
The fourth grade festival chorus, which was conducted by music teachers Rina Sklar of Hamilton Primary School and Brianna Super of Milltown and Adamsville primary schools, kicked off the performance.
The students from Eisenhower and Hillside formed the intermediate school festival chorus, which was conducted by choral directors Lisa Rotondi from Eisenhower and Tony Sgro from Hillside.
Gabriele Hingelberg, who is the middle school choral director, and her seventh and eighth grade students, followed with their terrific voices.
The combined high school choirs, under the guidance of choral director Dr. John Wilson, delivered a lively and spectacular performance while the high school’s Lorelei Ensemble also presented a sound showing.
A blessing was then performed by the combined district chorus and conducted by Alexander Holland, the music director at Bradley Gardens and Adamsville primary schools.
The conductors from all the school’s choral groups were accompanied during the performance by Chris Fortin, who is a pianist from Somerset County and who performs at local school concerts; Paul Conrad, a staff collaborative pianist from Rutgers University; and Tom DiGiovanni, a conductor and pianist from the Phillipsburg area.
The splendid efforts of the directors and the students, and the overflowing audience in the gym, supported McCarthy’s closing remarks.
“We are fortunate to belong to a community that values everything the arts bring to the education experience,’ he said. “Art doesn't happen in a vacuum. Intellectual curiosity feeds the arts and the arts provide a powerful mode of exploring and reflecting on various disciplines. Thank you to all the parents and families who joined us.”
Next up for the Festival of the Arts will be the orchestra concert Mar. 20, and the band concert Mar. 21. Both shows will start at 7 p.m. and will be staged in the high school’s main gym.
The fourth and final performance will be the Visual Arts Exhibit April 17 at the high school gym and cafeteria.
]]>BRIDGEWATER, NJ - A teapot, in the opinion of Bridgewater-Raritan High School sophomore Lauren Yang, can pour out awareness of climate change.
Yang took her project from Angela Morin’s ceramics 2 class this past fall and crafted a teapot that made its way to the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Virginia, where it will be on display with 149 other prized ceramic pieces from around the country from March 20 through March 22.
Yang’s “Bleached Ocean” was one of 150 selected out of 1,169 entries in the 27th Annual National K–12 Ceramic Exhibition Competition.
According to the foundation website, the trustees are about sustaining and showcasing excellence in American ceramic art education.
“The class assignment was about conveying empathy in a subject of the student’s choice through a teapot and glaze design,” Morin said. “Lauren chose to make the top rows of coral more colorful but fade them to white as they approach the bottom of the pot, in order to start a conversation about how climate change is causing the collapse of ocean coral reefs.”
Yang’s teapot is covered with colorful coral reefs with a handle and the spout that are both dark to depict a wooden dock, barnacles and an octopus. The inside is blue.
“The teapot is inspired by the ocean and the gray colors at the bottom show that the coral is being bleached and dying off,’’ said Yang, who used clay and glaze over a period of about “three to four weeks.”
“The teapot will bring awareness to climate change,” she added. “I did some research and 44% of the world has been affected by Climate Change. I believe more people should know and care about it.”
Yang is now in the process of creating another piece, a human heart.
“The teapot is ecology and the heart is anatomy,” she said. “I may in the future be in the medical field.”
But for now, she is focused on sharing the issue of climate change.
“I want to bring more awareness than a teapot, and continue to educate and inspire,” she said.
]]>RARITAN, NJ - After defunding the Economic Development Committee (EDC), Raritan Borough has tried to formulate a plan to balance the EDC and the new Downtown Development Committee, an internal standing committee for the council to work with and in tandem with the planning board, the new redevelopment committee and the EDC.
However, EDC members say that after several months, there is still no clear plan to move the EDC forward, which may require rewriting the EDC ordinance and bylaws.
"We don't have a plan, we don't know what we're doing, we don't know what our purpose is, and, until we do, I don't think any of us can really decide how we want to proceed," said EDC member David Marder. "So I would ask the council seriously to consider what they want out of this committee, and then we can move forward."
The EDC can't be part of the Downtown Development Committee since it's a committee by appointment and has no budget and no chair, but Marder said they're left with several responsibilities under the ordinance the EDC wasn't carrying out and that members need to be qualified to do, or have some training or access to resources.
"It's not a lack of desire or a lack of interest in learning those things," he said, but a need to know what the council wants them to do and subsequently learn if need be.
EDC secretary Fabiana LoPiccolo-Stewart said the EDC business plan submitted for 2024 was events-oriented, which members realized wasn't the EDC's intended function under the ordinance. Based on conversations the EDC had with the Downtown Committee, "some of the words that kept coming up were 'emerging,' 'we're absorbing,' but then when I look at the email that [Mayor Nicolas Carra] sent to give us some additional clarification, it's clear that a merge and absorption isn't actually what's happening," she said.
"We just have to sit down and actually paint a picture of what the expectations are, what the delineation between these various groups is going to be — the Downtown Committee, EDC, recreation — because right now, I think the main reason why we can't make any progress is because we don't know how to," she added. "And so, yes, we've made progress, but not quite enough to actually take any action yet."
Councilmen Adam Armahizer and Michael Patente said the borough, through joint conversations, needs to rebuild the EDC by reassessing and resubmitting the EDC bylaws.
"Maybe the council doesn't totally know what they want out of an Economic Development Committee, and maybe it needs to be developed as you go along," said Patente. "I think what we need to do is gel something, but it doesn't have to be that specific ordinance. Maybe it could be something a little different as long as it's not the same things that the standing committee is doing."
Marder said his point of emphasis at the joint meetings is that the council needs to decide what they want the EDC to do, and while the EDC is open to discussions and giving input, "at the end of the day, we don't get to decide those things," he said.
A part of a problem in town is the lack of a Chamber of Commerce and a disconnect between the purpose of the EDC and replacing or building a Chamber of Commerce, “and I think going forward, that has to be rectified, in one way or another,” Marder said.
Patente said the original EDC intended to develop a Chamber of Commerce, but the council and EDC didn't really follow the ordinance. The first big thing the EDC did was Discovering Raritan, which was a big hit with a big turnout, to get the businesses involved and help start a Chamber of Commerce.
Patente said he still hopes the town can establish one.
The EDC and Downtown Development Committee will meet again to discuss a plan, an EDC chair and next steps under the guidance of Carra.
"It's not that we're not capable of having a conversation, ot was productive as far as we all have ideas about what we'd like to see happen in the town," said Marder. "I think there's a lot of agreement about that. It's just about who will be responsible for what and how it gets done. And having the knowledge of process — having the knowledge of how we can move forward — I think is going to be essential to be able to do that."
]]>BRIDGEWATER, NJ - Zoned Sports Academy, in Bridgewater, held a special ceremony March 7 to celebrate a number of student athletes who have signed to play baseball or softball in college next year, including four from Bridgewater-Raritan High School.
Honored from BRHS were Matthew Fattore, heading to Belmont Abbey College; Joey Letko, heading to Ursinus College; Cory Rible, heading to Elizabethtown College; and Frankie Verano, heading to Fairleigh Dickinson University.
]]>RARITAN, NJ - A motion by Councilman Adam Armahizer to begin investigating alternative locations in Raritan Brough for the Department of Public Works (DPW) building, which currently operates out of a flood zone, was left without a second, although councilman Michael Patente said he’s open to considering it in the future.
Armahizer said that keeping the DPW in the flood zone, next to a river that continuously floods, puts millions of dollars of municipal assets at risk since the DPW currently oversees the storage and maintenance of Raritan Borough's motor vehicles and vehicles from adjacent departments.
“I do not believe an out-of-town property lease is sufficient for long-term operational sustainability nor for the safety of personnel and equipment,” said Armahizer. “We do have to come up with something. I don't think a place over in Hillsborough is sufficient.”
Mayor Nicolas Carra said they’re talking to the county about not keeping the Hillsborough property, and the DPW department is aware, as council president Don Tozzi and councilman David Fritzinger talk regularly with DPW Director Vincent LoMedico.
Tozzi said they've spoken to LoMedico and DPW laborers, and they're happy with where they are "because there's no problem where they're at," he said. "They can move all the machinery if there is a flood a lot closer, they don't have to go miles and miles away."
Tozzi said a potential Resilient Grant is also coming down the pike later in the year, which will waterproof the building.
"They do floodplain areas of buildings in towns,” he said. “I'm looking into the other towns, but it's a resilience grant that we don't pay for. I don't know where we will move public works with the taxpayers’ money."
Armahizer said that’s why he’s asking to start an investigation. looking around town for potential locations. He’s got a couple of spots in mind, he said, and, according to his talks with DPW laborers, they can’t stand being stationed down by the river.
"They simply can't stay next to the river," said Armahizer. "We saw last time it flooded, all the vehicles had to be moved to our new municipal building. Now we're not moved into the new municipal building. When we do move over there, we can't put our DPW trucks and everything in that parking lot. So we have no choice here but to come up with some kind of solution."
Fritzinger said the DPW building has been there for as long as he can remember.
"And I'm 65 years old, so it's been sitting there a while," he said.
However, heavy rains are causing more frequent and intense flooding, and are projected to escalate through the 21st century, according to the Rutgers New Jersey Climate Change Resource Center.
"I think in a longer-term we probably are [going to investigate and move the DPW building]," said Patente. "Probably short term we don't have the money even if we wanted to, but I think longer term, sure, it's an absolutely good idea.”
]]>RARITAN, NJ - The Bridgewater-Raritan High School Robotics Team 303 is holding a Panera Bread fundraiser March 15.
The fundraiser will be held at the location on Route 202 in Raritan, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Those purchasing food should present the flyer above, or enter the code FUND4U at the kiosk or the mobile app for the team to receive funding.
A total of 25% of sales during the scheduled time will be donated to the high school robotics team.
]]>BRIDGEWATER, NJ - Milltown Primary School held Family STEAM Night March 2 to engage families in all things STEAM.
“Family STEAM night is one of our most engaging and collaborative nights of the year,” said Milltown principal Matt Lembo.
Lembo said science coordinators Jennifer Anders and Meredith Alvarez, along with colleagues and students from the district, helped develop the event to engage families.
“Families worked together with limited supplies in order to build a structure to keep them protected from inclement weather,” he said. “It was such a fun way for our families to apply learning about the design process we use to solve problems.”
]]>JACKSON, NJ - The 2024 Bridgewater Panther 10U team, coached by Brian Stanton, won its first tournament of the season in the Spring Blast Tournament in Jackson.
The team was led by batters Liam Stanton, Jason Librizzi, Jack Sterner, Luka Soto and Dillon Capaldo, who started the day with a triple and later had a team-rallying home run.
Librizzi and Justin Cherbonneau had a win each, with Charlie Johnson getting the save in both tournament games for the team's pitchers.
The next tournament will be held March 16 and March 17, the St. Patrick's Day classic.
]]>BRIDGEWATER, NJ - Bridgewater resident Jake Pino recently had his documentary, "Tim," accepted to the Garden State Film Festival.
Pino filmed the documentary in 2023, about his father, Tim Pino, the current undersheriff of Somerset County, who served as a police K9 handler for the Somerset County Sheriff's Office. Tim Pino was responsible for the creation of Dano’s Law, which makes threats to the life of a law enforcement animal a fourth-degree crime, punishable with prison time and/or a fine.
Dano was Tim Pino's K9 with the sheriff's office. The law came about after a 2008 incident in Hillsborough when the boyfriend of a suspected drug dealer threatened to kill Dano.
Dano died in 2014.
The documentary about his father came about when Jake Pino had to do a final project for his American Film Studies class. Last year, he placed third out of 200 finalists for the FilmNow Award at the regional high school film festival at the Ambler Theatre in Pennsylvania.
"I am thrilled to share that our film has been accepted to the Garden State Film Festival, and it means a lot to me to have my dad's story recognized in this way," he said. "Given that this is the Garden State Film Festival, 'Tim' is a good example of a story about making change in New Jersey to protect law enforcement animals from threats as if it were to a police officer."
Pino said he is hoping to push the story to a wider audience.
"It seems like nowadays, the police force as a whole doesn't get enough credit and recognition for their service whenever we go on social media or watch the news," he said. "We only see the bad stuff and rarely see any good news about them."
Tim Pino said he is proud of the law and of his son for his work on the documentary.
"“There wouldn’t be a Dano’s Law without the tremendous bipartisan support of then Republican Sen. Kip Bateman and Democrat Assemblyman Nelson Albano," he said. "Both will forever be champions to the New Jersey police community, as is my son Jake for sharing Dano’s story on the 10-year anniversary of his passing."
Jake Pino said he wants to change the stigma surrounding police.
"I want to help break that stigma of people not liking police, and promote the good in them," he said. "This film is one of those examples."
The Garden State Film Festival will be held March 21 through March 24, and it celebrates the independent film genre by bringing together work from local filmmakers and ones from around the world. This year's festival will bring together 200 films from more than 14 countries over four days.
Pino's film will screen March 24 at 9:15 a.m. at Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel in Asbury Park.
]]>BRIDGEWATER, NJ - A sign that spring is about to be sprung is the sounds of music that fill the air – and a tv video screen – from the students in the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District
The first official day of spring is March 19, but the district will tee off an engaging and entertaining spring concert series with its signature event of the school year, the Festival of the Arts.
This popular and well-attended event that presents the many talents of the Bridgewater-Raritan students who are involved in the school district’s highly productive fine and performing arts program is performed four times during the year.
Students from various schools assemble in Bridgewater-Raritan High School’s spacious Vaughn Stapleton Gymnasium to deliver their entertaining performances.
The first of these four shows will be the chorus concert, which will be held March 12.
A week later, those sweet sounds will be replaced by musical instruments when the orchestra concert is played March 20, and the band concert is performed March 21.
All three concerts will kick off at 7 p.m.
The fourth and final Festival of Arts show will be the Visual Arts Exhibit April 17 in the high school’s gymnasium and cafeteria. That display will start at 6 p.m.
And for those who cannot attend the live show, they can enjoy watching the livestream.
The Bridgewater-Raritan High School television station – BRTV– will for the first time provide a livestream of the performances.
Matt McCarthy, the force behind the Festival of the Arts in his role as the school district’s supervisor of arts education, also spearheaded the convenience for the community to watch through a livestream production.
"I am very excited to kick off our spring concert season with the Festival of the Arts,’’ McCarthy said. “ I am so proud that we will be able to livestream these events. Now, even more of our community members will be able to witness the hard work and talent of our student musicians in real time. "
The spring concert series in Bridgewater-Raritan features numerous chorus, orchestra and band concerts, and musical plays and performances at various schools that are presented until June.
Below is the link to click on to watch the BRTV live stream of the performances: BRTV Live Stream of Festival of Arts.
]]>BRIDGEWATER, NJ – In 2019, the Bridgewater planning board approved Bridgewater Realty II LLC’s application to build a hotel, build a Goddard School or preschool and renovate the former Houlihan’s into a new restaurant called Stone Tavern on a 6.788-acre site on Route 22 and Morgan Lane.
Now, Bridgewater Realty II has come back before the zoning board seeking a D-1 variance to replace the preschool with a drive-thru Starbucks. Drive-thrus are prohibited in the zone, causing concerns about traffic and the drive-thru lane backing up onto Route 22, a state highway.
Chairman Jeffrey Foose said the 2019 planning board that approved the case "left some things to be desired.”
“In my opinion, it led to a new mayor being elected in our town, not this case in particular, but actions of that planning board," Foose said. "That's my opinion. But this board is not going to recognize anything that planning board gave you."
Bridgewater Realty II must prove each variance they submitted to the board for the Starbucks parcel. The previous variances from the Goddard School are irrelevant, and the relief granted to the hotel and Stone Tavern stay in place.
"We're not making any changes whatsoever to either one of those portions of the property, it is just where the Starbucks will be proposed,” said the applicant’s attorney, Henry Kent-Smith.
The site is a commercial condominium held in common by the three property owners – the hotel, restaurant and Starbucks parcel – that are each part of the condo association. Eric Mund, the owner of the Starbucks site and operating officer, said they had a contract in 2019 with the operator of the Goddard School in Hillsborough, but after COVID-19 and the office market dried up, along with the demand for childcare, the Goddard operator's finances changed drastically.
Now, it's a Starbucks.
Although the site and Starbucks parcel are overparked – with 293 spaces proposed and only 246 required sitewide, and 24 parking spaces required for Starbucks and 34 spaces proposed – they’re seeking a variance for not providing a separate loading space for Starbucks, a variance for impervious coverage (60% maximum allowed and 60.5% proposed) and a variance for the parking setback. The ordinance requires a 100-foot parking setback, and they have proposed 57 feet from Starbucks and 20 feet from Morgan Lane.
Robert Moschello, the applicant's engineer, said they swapped the Goddard School for the Starbucks, although the Starbucks is much smaller. Goddard was about 10,000 square feet while Starbucks is only 2,469 square feet, leaving enough room for a bypass lane and a Y-Lane Drive-Thru, two lanes with two separate order points that merge into one.
Depending on the size of the vehicles in the queue, Moschello said, the drive-thru can fit 17 to 20 cars, and five to seven cars can fit in the parking lot before touching Route 22.
Foose asked if they could design the Starbucks differently and from scratch since they rendered the Starbucks utilizing some of the Goddard School plans.
"Now that they're off the table, I'm wondering if there's a way that you could be more creative and fit more cars," he said. "You're a creative firm. You guys design wonderful things, from schools to stadiums. I think you could do better."
Kent-Smith said modifications could create new variances.
"One thing I'm looking at is the closer you put the building to Morgan Lane, the greater capacity you're going to get in your drive-thru, but that's going to create a variance,” he said.
The applicant is seeking about 19 variances, most involving setbacks, front, rear and side.
A 100-foot front-yard setback is required, and 96.3 feet is proposed. The rear-yard setback and buffer requirement is 75 feet plus a 125-foot buffer, and they are proposing 120 feet.
The side yard setback and buffer requirement for accessory structures are 50 feet and 125 feet buffer, and they are proposing 135 feet. Finally, the building setback requirement from Route 22 is 200 feet, and they’re proposing 119.4 feet.
Foose said Bridgewater would be happy to have a Starbucks and wants to be a good partner, but his primary concern is safety. There’s a Dunkin Donuts drive-thru on Route 22 that spills onto the highway, he said, and he doesn't trust the applicant's traffic engineer.
"What happens when your traffic engineer gives testimony, and we have the 25th car that ends up on Route 22 because it's happening at the Dunkin Donuts right up the road about a mile at the Somerville property," he said.
"He's been wrong,” Foose added. “And I Googled it today. He's been wrong in Hillsborough. He's been wrong in Wyckoff. We have our own traffic engineer. We're going to refute a lot of what he says, but it makes me nervous. And as a board chairman, safety comes first."
The site has three access points – a right-in and right-out on Route 22, a right-in only on Route 22 to the Starbucks parcel and an access point on Morgan Lane. Residents raised concerns about traffic congestion, not only the site creating more traffic on Route 22 and affecting school buses leaving Adamsville Road onto Route 22, but also on Morgan Lane.
Bridgewater resident William Vreeland said the 2019 board said they would look into putting speed bumps on Morgan Lane to control traffic, keeping the speed limit to 25 miles per hour.
"That's often exceeded," said Vreeland.
Although any changes on a municipal road would have to come from the town council, Foose said he will personally reach out to the council to have them review it and give the zoning board an answer.
Kent-Smith said they can prepare a condition of approval with Starbucks to ensure drive-thru operations prevent cars from spilling onto Route 22.
"We could work cooperatively with the board to provide the board with assurance that operationally, we're going to do everything we can to make sure it is an efficient operation that does not impair safety," he said.
Foose said once Starbucks is up and running, the board is out of the equation, and while conditions are enforceable by the town’s zoning officer, he said they’re hard to enforce.
Board attorney Richard Oller asked that the applicant return with a clear operational plan. The applicant will also return with specific numbers and presentations for landscaping and lighting for the Starbucks parcel.
]]>BRIDGEWATER, NJ – Trucks over 4 tons in weight will no longer be allowed to travel on certain roads in Bridgewater Township.
The town council unanimously approved an ordinance Feb. 15 to prohibit such travel in certain areas of the municipality.
Trucks over 4 tons in gross weight are now prohibited on Allen Road, from Route 202/206 to Foothill Road; Cross Road, from Route 202/206 to Downey Road; Highland Avenue, from Route 202/206 to Hillside Avenue; Hillside Avenue, from Foothill Road to Wight Avenue; Long Road, from Washington Valley northerly to the township border; Prospect Avenue, from Woodlawn Avenue to Wight Avenue; Somerset Avenue, from Highland Avenue to Woodlawn Avenue; and Wight Avenue, from Somerset Avenue to North Bridge Street.
Bridgewater resident Mary Gallagher asked how the ordinance would be enforced, and if signage or cameras will be used.
Council president Timothy Ring replied that there are signs for registered 4-ton vehicles, and that Bridgewater police officers will be responsible for enforcing the ordinance.
The township also worked with neighboring Bernards Township on Long Road, which borders both municipalities. Flatbed trucks will still be allowed, but not trucks cutting through from Route 202/206.
Gallagher spoke about not being able to tell the difference, while Ring said it is a matter of publicly educating truck drivers.
Gallagher asked again about how to enforce the ordinance, such as if there are permits to perform housework or the like in the area, while council vice president Howard Norgalis said truckers use GPS systems to tell them which areas to avoid.
Councilman Michael Kirsh said there would be a 20-day wait after the ordinance was approved for it to be published and then enforced.
Councilman Allen Kurdyla said he supports the ordinance, but is also concerned about its enforcement. He added he doesn’t doubt the police, but that it is a matter of timing, ostensibly, to catch violators, and asked if the road portion from Van Veghten Drive to Finderne Avenue had been examined.
Township administrator Michael Pappas said Kurdyla had suggested examining the Finderne section months ago where there are a number of public and private parcels of land, along with wet areas. Pappas added that township attorney Chris Corsini had researched legal impediments to creating a Van Veghten extension, and that he had also met with township engineer Bill Burr on the matter.
Burr explained that the township had started looking at the situation several weeks before, regarding an outline for a feasibility study, and that there are some hurdles that have to be overcome first.
An engineering firm was also contacted, and copies of surveys were subsequently procured. Land parcels were also examined, for Green Acres and other details.
The council approved the ordinance by a 5-0 vote.
]]>STATEN ISLAND, NY – To end his very productive first season of high school indoor track and field, Bridgewater-Raritan High School senior Drew Davis represented the Panthers on New Jersey’s biggest stage on the final day of the 2023-24 season.
Thanks to his performances in the 55-meter (m) dash at both the state sectional championships and subsequent group championships, Davis qualified for the 2023-24 NJSIAA Indoor Track & Field Meet of Champions, which was contested on Sunday, March 3, at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island.
Davis shined amongst the best runners across all of the Garden State and delivered a time of 6.73 seconds in the preliminary round of the boys 55m dash on Sunday morning, and although he did not advance to the final round, Davis’ performance was good for a 20th place finish overall in this event.
“It was pretty cool,” praised Bridgewater-Raritan boys head coach Dave Evans of Davis qualifying for the Meet of Champions. “He had a great season all along and there were a bunch of highlights. He did really well at the Skyland Conference meet, sectionals, and groups. He ran at the [Eastern State Championships] and then obviously the Meet of Champions. He set the school record and broke it a couple of times this season [in the 55m dash], so it was really fun, and there was a lot of good stuff from him this season.”
Davis’ road to the Meet of Champions officially began at the 2023-24 NJSIAA North New Jersey Section 2 Group 4 Championships back on February 3 at the Bennett Indoor Athletic Complex in Toms River, where he finished fifth place (6.80 seconds) in the preliminary round of this sectional meet’s boys 55m dash to advance to the final round. In the championship race, Davis tallied a fourth-place finish at 6.60 seconds: one of nine medals for the Panthers’ boys and girls squads combined at the sectional championships.
This medal and top-six placement helped Davis qualify for the 2023-24 NJSIAA Group 4 Indoor Track & Field Championships and a return trip to Toms River two weeks later.
At this meet on February 17, Davis improved his mark to 6.58 seconds in the boys 55m dash to take fifth place at the Group 4 state championship meet and seal his trip to the Meet of Champions, which consisted of the top six placers for this race in each of the Group 1, Group 2, Group 3, and Group 4 meets. Prior to then capping off his great season at the Meet of Champions, Davis tied for seventh place (6.62 seconds) in the preliminary round of the boys 55m dash at the aforementioned Eastern State Championships, February 20, at The Armory in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City just across the George Washington Bridge from New Jersey.
Even though Davis then just missed the top-eight cutoff for a finals berth with a 10th place finish (6.61 seconds) in the Eastern State Championships semifinal race, this set the stage for Davis’ biggest 55m dash of the season just under two weeks later in Staten Island.
Although only the top eight finishers in the preliminary round made the finals at the Meet of Champions on Sunday morning, the boys 55m dash times of all runners in the preliminary round were separated by just 0.52 second, including Davis’ time of 6.73 seconds. Eventual champion and Burlington City High School senior Malachi James produced a preliminary-best, record-breaking time of 6.30 seconds. His record did not even last for two hours, as James then quickly broke his own record with a new Meet of Champions best time of 6.22 seconds in the championship round to win the event.
A 55m dash time of 6.53 seconds by Roxbury High School junior Shayne Spiteri in the preliminary round was the cutoff for advancing to this championship round via the top eight, meaning even the next best times of 6.55 seconds achieved by three runners in the preliminary round were not enough to qualify for the finals in this stacked event.
Davis was the fourth to cross the finish line during his heat of the preliminary round behind Livingston High School senior Chase Kaufman (6.50 seconds): the lone eventual finalist from this heat, in addition to Hillsborough High School sophomore Daniel Tobia (6.56 seconds) and Piscataway High School junior Noah Grant (6.62 seconds). In what ended up being the third preliminary heat, Davis’ time of 6.73 seconds edged Notre Dame High School senior Andy Zigbuo (6.75 seconds) and Union Catholic High School senior Kevin Philistin (6.82 seconds).
Southern Regional High School junior Cole Isaac Cramer (6.29 seconds) won the race’s silver medal for his runner-up finish in the finals, while Delbarton School senior Ryan Johnson (6.30 seconds) took home the bronze medal at third place. These times, in addition to both James’ preliminary time and finals-winning time, all eclipsed the previous indoor Meet of Champions record of 6.34 seconds set in 2020 by then senior Louis Akpadago of Nottingham-Hamilton North High School.
In other words, not even a record-breaking performance in the boys 55m dash was enough to win the 2024 NJSIAA Indoor Track & Field Meet of Champions in a historically-competitive field, which broke records in an incredible 11 out of 28 events according to MileSplitNJ (seven boys events, four girls events). Even a nine-year-old girls 55m hurdles Meet of Champions record of 7.82 seconds set in winter 2015 by Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin: then a sophomore at Union Catholic High School, was broken in Staten Island on Sunday morning by current Union Catholic High School junior Taylor Cox via her 7.73 second finals mark.
Rounding out the top eight placements in the boys 55m dash at the Meet of Champions were Robbinsville High School senior Maxim Rychkov (6.42 seconds, fourth place), Spiteri (6.46 seconds, fifth place), Washington Township High School junior John Santos (6.50 seconds, sixth place), Kaufman (6.54 seconds, seventh place) out of Davis’ preliminary heat, and Woodbury High School junior Marquis Taylor (6.55 seconds, eighth place).
While Davis’ winter track season officially came to an end, he has had a productive senior year so far for the Bridgewater-Raritan Panthers and will be set up for a successful outdoor track and field season this Spring.
Davis began the 2023-24 school year as a member of Bridgewater-Raritan High School’s football team this past fall. Although he was unfortunately limited during the fall due to injury, he came up big in the Panthers’ last two regular-season games: both wins that ultimately sealed a state playoff berth for Bridgewater-Raritan. He then picked up right where he left off on the football field on the way to a successful first winter track season, which saw Davis compete individually in the 55m dash and as one of four members of each of the Panthers’ 4x200m and 4x400m relay teams.
And if you saw him run in any of his races, you would not know it was Davis’ first season running high school track indoors.
“After coming off of injury with football, this was my first indoor track season in high school,” reflected Davis of his 2023-24 winter season. “We came in and planned on taking a lot of school records. We set a lot of big goals for this entire track season this year. Going into winter, I knew I was going to push myself and train hard during the offseason, and it was a quick switch from football to winter track. So I just knew that I was going to put all of my work into just getting faster and trying to improve for this season.”
In the first month alone, Bridgewater-Raritan made five trips up to Drew University in Madison for invitational meets. To highlight the fourth of these trips: the Christa Racine Invitational on January 6, Davis placed first in the preliminary round of the 55m dash with a 6.94 second finish to qualify for the finals, which he completed in 6.85 seconds to win the event’s gold medal.
“That doesn’t happen very often and is not even a yearly thing,” Evans particularly shared about Davis’ marquee event win at the Christa Racine Invitational, which bears the name of Drew University’s current Director of Athletics and former head women’s soccer coach of 31 years [from 1994-2023]. “That’s like a once-every-ten-years kind of deal for someone on the team to win one of those signature events. That was a big deal and a lot of fun.”
The rest of the season, Davis’ 55m dash times continued to improve, and he continued to add to his medal collection along with those of his teammates.
Davis most notably contributed to a gold and silver medal for Bridgewater-Raritan’s 4x400m and 4x200m boys relay teams, respectively, at the 2023-24 Somerset County Relay Championships back on December 29: the Panthers’ first of five county, conference, or state-level meets this season at the Bennett Indoor Athletic Complex in Toms River. This 4x400m first-place finish courtesy of Davis and fellow Class of 2024 relay members Isaiah Barnwell, Alberto Castillo, and Liam Vasquez particularly edged boys county champion and rival Ridge High School by just 0.14 second for the top spot. Davis, Barnwell, Castillo, and senior Diego Henao’s second-place finish in the 4x200m relay at the Somerset County Championships was also just 0.25 second away from event winner Hillsborough High School.
Bridgewater-Raritan’s 4x400m boys relay team also took first place at the Skyland Conference Championships January 24, when Davis also produced a runner-up finish at 6.61 seconds in the finals of the boys 55m dash, and the Panthers’ boys team took home second place overall.
“He races really hard,” continued Evans. “The 4x200 team also set the school record, and the 4x400 team just missed it. It was very competitive. We won the 4x400 at the Somerset County and Skyland Conference Championships, and he ran a very strong leg every one of those times in both the 4x200 and the 4x400.”
Davis’ 4x400m relay team came in seventh place at the aforementioned North 2 Group 4 sectional meet: just one spot short of advancing to the group championships. Unbelievably, all six boys 4x400m relay teams that finished above the Panthers in this sectional meet alone (and advanced to the Group 4 state championships) also qualified for the Meet of Champions out of Group 4 (Westfield, Piscataway, Elizabeth, Ridge, Columbia, and Linden).
Fierce competition, regardless, that will continue to prepare Bridgewater-Raritan for its future races and events.
“We wanted to take records and we also wanted to make nationals for the relays,” Davis went on to say about his relay squads. “Our relay is actually really fun, too. The entire vibe of relays is really captivating, and being a part of that team is really special. The 4x400 is super fun, because it is the last event of a meet, and there is always so much energy and a lot of hype around the entire event. The 4x200 is my favorite relay by far, and I think we did pretty good in that. I wish we had a little more chances to run it, but that was really fun, too.”
With the 2023-24 indoor track and field season now in the books, Bridgewater-Raritan High School along with all other boys and girls programs throughout New Jersey will soon venture outside for the Spring 2024 season. According to the NJSIAA outdoor track and field webpage, the first practices are scheduled for Thursday, March 14, and Opening Day is on Monday, April 1.
“Hopefully the outlook is the same,” Evans shared what lies ahead for the Panthers this Spring. “Hopefully we continue on, build on that, and we get more guys qualifying for the Meet of Champions. Group 4 is obviously very competitive, but the Skyland Conference is very competitive, Somerset County is very competitive. If you look at some of the qualifiers both individual and team that make it year in and year out to the Meet of Champions, and see how many are Skyland Conference or Somerset County teams, it’s tough competition all the way through. But it’s great for the guys to see that, compete with those teams all the time, and obviously make it to the Meet of Champions.”
Including Davis, the Panthers have now had a total of three Meet of Champions qualifiers amongst their cross-country and track and field teams in the 2023-24 school year going back to the fall season, which saw both junior Lukas Disko and senior Moksh Patwari qualify for the 2023 NJSIAA Cross-Country Boys Meet of Champions in Holmdel Park back on November 11.
“Our group in general is really fast,” concluded Davis about Group 4 and the boys 55m dash event. “The fact that I wasn’t winning and still running fast motivates me to train way harder in the Spring. I know how fast our group is, and I know how much I need to improve to place later on.”
Per the Bridgewater-Raritan High School Athletics webpage, the Panthers’ first meet of the spring season is currently scheduled for Saturday, April 6, in a varsity invitational at Metuchen High School. Notably and barring any schedule adjustments between now and then, Bridgewater-Raritan High School is currently scheduled to serve as host to one meet in the spring: a tri-meet between the Panthers, Franklin High School, and Somerville High School at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 10, at John Basilone Memorial Field.
]]>BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Bridgewater Township's newest police officer was formally introduced to the public Feb. 15 at the township council meeting when Officer Alex Jaszyn was sworn in.
“It’s great to see a crowd,” said councilman Allen Kurdyla, who offered his congratulations to Jaszyn.
The swearing-in ceremony was overseen by Police Chief John Mitzak, who thanked the council and Mayor Matthew Moench for allowing his department to swear in a new officer.
Mitzak said Jaszyn comes to Bridgewater as a full-fledged police officer, having served as a patrolman in Clinton Township for the past year-and-a-half.
“It’s sure his experiences have prepared him for his new position in Bridgewater,” said the chief.
Jaszyn studied at Raritan Valley Community College before graduating from Stockton University, where he was a dean’s list student, with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. Prior to becoming a police officer, Jaszyn served several years as a lifeguard for the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.
“This training could come in handy,” said Mitzak.
He said Jaszyn enjoys fishing, snowboarding and motorcycles in his spare time, and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. He also said that Jaszyn had indicated that he wanted to be more involved in police work by coming to Bridgewater, and “have more of an opportunity.”
Mitzak promised Jaszyn that he would be more involved here, and would have those opportunities as long as he did his best on the job every day, for his community and his fellow officers, and went home safely to his loved ones at night.
“Those are your goals,” said Mitzak. “I thank you for becoming part of the Bridgewater PD family.”
Jaszyn was then sworn in by council president Timothy Ring. Accompanying him as he took his oath were his fiancée, Laura, and his parents, Linda and Richard.
]]>BRIDGEWATER, NJ — TAPinto The BReeze is in search of qualified and talented freelance news reporters to cover news in the community.
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If you are interested in applying to be a news or sports reporter for TAPinto The BReeze, please click here and fill out the form. Please include a resume, writing samples and the area (or areas) in which you are available. If you have already applied through another TAPinto site, you do not need to apply again.
]]>BRIDGEWATER, NJ - Bridgewater-Raritan High School held its annual Broadway Night, with a Disney on Broadway feature Feb. 28 and Feb. 29 in the school auditorium.
The event featured singers from Eisenhower Intermediate, the middle school SOL group and the high school theater arts program.
Songs included features from "Tangled," "The Little Mermaid," "Brave," "High School Musical," "Newsies," "Aladdin," "Mulan" and more.
Performing over the two days were Laila Acquista, Hanifa Akmanov, Thomas Amorim, Drew Andersen, Karthik Angara, Akshara Arvind, Esha Bande, Lex Bodrogi, Guntas Brar, Gianna Callari, Gabriela Cardenas, Preethi Chandrani, Mackenzie Chermak, Nikalette Cruz, Paige D'Aloisio, Caroline Dansak, Matthew DaSilva, Kimaya Desai, Ria Devgan, Aditi Dhara, Kesin Dixit, Saurisha Dowlapalli, Veronica Dryl, Meher Dua, Violet Feeney, Mason Francz, Anna Gakalo, Luke Gill, Saanvi Goel, Alyssa Goncalves, Prisha Gudimella, Ananya Gunti, Tanvi Gupta, Gabrielle Guzman, Yazmina Harris, John Harrison, Katie Iovine, Nitya Jain, Nishka Jetly, Neeve Jhaveri, Ronnie Kabbash, Supriya Kadoor, Sanya Kalbag, Akhil Kalepalli, Kaavya Kamthan, Mahathi Karthik, Aditi Kavimandan, Elle Kim, Isabella Knapp, Ruby Kohut, Navya Kolati, Peri Kozan, Sebastian Krihak, Priyanka Kumar, Nikita Kumar, Emily Letso, Sri Saketh Maddali, Tanisha Malhotra, Julianne Maloney, Abigail Mathew, Sofia Mathew, Anshika Mishra, Diya Mohan, Ella Morales Marino, Courtney Morse, Sahana Murari, Anya Murdock, Franny Murray, Julian Narciso, Faith Ndichu, Wabera Ndunga, Mattingly Niles, Geet Pagare, Lily Peralta Gamarra, Zahra Pillay, Noah Powelson, Leah Rader, Shravani Raj, Nikhita Raj, Amiya Ramdeen, Rishikesh Ravi, Jireh Reyes, Briany Rodriguez, Ann Roy, Camila Ruffinelli, Lydia Ruth, Angela Salvador, Sania Sawale, Miles Schwamberger, Dhiya Selvakumar, Sohum Shahri, Jackie Shimko, Olivia Silvy, Kelyce Dakota Simon, Sumedha Singh, Adhava Sivakumar, Ava Skunakis, Richa Sorathia, Jordyn Spina, Marissa Springsteel, Violet Stephens, Jessica Strauss, Henry Russel Tadena, Anaya Tejani, Thea Tettekpoe, Sanjana Thayi, Lexus Thompson, Bryanna Torres, Emma Turcu, Kaila Valeira, Madelyn Van Dyk, Nicholas Venet, Beatrice Villa, Andy Wang, Bryan Wilkinson, Joshua Zagare, Erica Zaltzman and Raziel Zuniga.
]]>RARITAN, NJ - After looking into prohibiting left turns on First Avenue for vehicles heading west on Fifth Street and Farrand Street — from 2nd Avenue to First Avenue — the Raritan Borough Council discussed changing other roads in town to improve safety.
Borough engineer Joseph Brosnan said he’ll create a memo for Fifth Street and Farrand Street to send to the county to get their approval on the record, while the council authorized borough administrator Eric Colvin to contact the county about making Codington Street and Reimer Street alternating one-way streets, since both touch Main Street, a county road.
Former councilman Pablo Orozco mentioned making Codington Street and Reimer Street one-way streets, and Mayor Nicolas Carra said a resident had contacted him for an update on the project.
Carra said the problem is that Codington and Reimer are narrow. Many houses don't have driveways, so residents park on both sides of the street leaving just enough room for one lane.
"If another car's coming down, someone's got to pull over to the side if they can," said Carra. "So, it's definitely an issue, especially with Codington. The one person who reached out to me, they have that little bend in the road. So sometimes you can't even see if there's a car down the road."
Although the changes are meant to improve road safety in town, resident Bruce Taggart was concerned that the borough's decision to prohibit left turns on First Avenue for vehicles heading west on Fifth Street and Farrand Street, since removing the possibility of cars taking Fifth or Farrand to get onto First Avenue — an alternative route to getting onto First Avenue from the light on Route 202 — could impact traffic patterns and cause trouble for other streets in town.
"People are going to go down to Anderson Street and have to go all the way down past St. Ann Church to get back to First Avenue, so the traffic flow is just going to change like crazy, and people are going to complain about it,” he said.
While he wasn’t sure about the implications of prohibiting left turns from Fifth Street and Farrand Street, Taggart said it’d be worth changing the no right-turn rule on Orlando Drive and Lyman Street — making it no right turns until 7 p.m. so people aren't sitting at the light when there are no cars in sight.
While the council liked the idea of having no right turns until 7 p.m. on Orlando and Lyman, Councilwoman Joyce Melitsky said many residents had expressed concerns about the Fifth Street intersection on First Avenue, citing three motor vehicle accidents, one involving a young man on a bicycle.
"I've lived in this town all my life, you cannot see what's coming up that road off First Avenue," she said. "So, I think we could be saving lives, and I think it's more important that we save lives than worry about the traffic going somewhere else."
Carra said the council would investigate and double-check the proposed changes with the police department and engineering. If the council decides to officially proceed and make the changes, an ordinance with the changes will be introduced at a council meeting, followed by a public ordinance hearing at a later council meeting, likely at the end of March.
Carra said he wants residents living on these streets to weigh in on the potential changes.
"My goal would be to, even if I had to do it by hand, I’ll drop letters behind mailboxes, just letting the residents of the streets know that it's up for discussion,” he said.
]]>RARITAN, NJ - Raritan Borough has partnered with Recycle Coach to be an advocate for recycling and living green.
Vince LoMedico, director of public works for Raritan, said the app, which is an online platform through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (EPA), is all about promoting recycling. It has information about what materials get recycled, as well as how and where to recycle.
In addition, LoMedico said, it has a full calendar with the local schedule of garbage pickup, bulk pickup, recycling dates and county dates.
“There are alerts too, if there are delays for inclement weather, it says when the pickup is moved to,” he said.
The app, LoMedico said, is completely free.
“I would like to get as many people on board as possible,” he said.
LoMedico said the purpose of the platform through the EPA is to increase recycling rates in the state by making information clear and accessible to every resident.
“Residents can get notifications, reminders and more for all pickups in town,” he said. “The app also has a 12-month calendar scheduled, and you can add information like drop-off locations if needed.”
LoMedico said he had worked with the app in other towns around the state, and wanted to bring it to Raritan Borough.
“It’s a really good tool,” he said.
Residents can download the app in the app store, and then choose Raritan Borough as their town. Or, they can scan the QR code on the borough website at raritanboro.org.
]]>BRIDGEWATER, NJ - The 2024 annual Bridgewater Sing-Off is returning to the Bridgewater-Raritan High School auditorium March 22 at 7:30 p.m. to showcase the talents of local students and raise money for the Kimberly A. Nelson Foundation.
Nelson was a beloved member of the BRHS class of 2010, and the foundation was formed in her honor to support vocal music and theatre programs through college scholarships and vocal study program financial support.
Performers participating in the sing-off excelled in in-person auditions that were held earlier in the year. They will perform and compete for monetary prizes.
Participants in previous years have debuted original songs, and others have gone on to become successful vocal performance college graduates, music teachers and recording artists.
This year’s judges have had professional success in the music industry, and will give critical assessments of vocal performances before choosing the winners.
The master of ceremonies will be New Jersey tenor Philip Alongi.
General admission tickets are available at kimsway.org, or at the door, for $15 for adults and $7 for students.
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